Supporting Group Process for Professional Development
by Gloria P. Martinez
Internet tools can make it easier for you can keep in touch with colleagues and experts in your field and with people around the world who share your interests. Also, it can make it easier to explore the library of internet resources. One of the most popular and most widely used internet tools is electronic mail. E-mail has been an integral part of thie internet enabling students, educators and colleagues to send and receive information with each other at a distance asychronously. Asychronously means that educators can collaborate sending messages at different times and from different places using either a MacIntosh computer or a IBM personal computer or a PC Clone computer. Asynchronous e-mail is convenient because participants can check-in their mail box as their time permits. Furthermore, with e-mail anyone can join a Mail List. Liszt is a list of e-mail addresses that is used to send e-mail messages to groups of people. Generally, a special-interest group mailing list is used to discuss specific topics.
There are two unique features of e-mail that can facilitate group process; threading messages and sending attachments. Threading occurs when a person responds to a message through a reply mode or a forward a message mode. A thread is created when a new message is placed above the original message. Threading can help retain the flow of a conversation to a certain limit. It can become challenging in a group discussion because the topic can become very long and the flow of the conversation may lose its clarity. The second feature is exchanging formatted documents as attachments. Lesson plans and other supporting documents that are in ASCII text format can be sent and received as e-mail attachments.
How is electronic mail accessed? Pine e-mail, Eudora e-mail and Netscape e-mail are three software programs that distributes files or information in response to requests sent via e-mail. Pine is a command-line interface program for clients to access the messages on the server. Eudora and Netscape mail are GUI or Graphic User Interface programs that retrieve messages from the server and send them back to the clients personal computer. Some users prefer Pine e-mail because messages stay on the server and are more secured. In addition, messages can be accessd from any computer that has a telnet program such as NCSA Telnet or a terminal emulation program such as Windows terminal accessory. However, Pine does have its advantages and disadvantages click here to read an evaluation . Eudora has an advantage over Pine because of its GUI interface easy usage and messages can be stored on one's personal computer whereas messages accessed with Pine stay on the server. Netscape browser has a built in e-mail feature that works similar to the Eudora e-mail program. For more information on Netscape e-mail click here. For more general information see Evaluating E-mail Software site or visit the Evaluation of Software Tools site.
However, its asychronous features has its disadvantages of not having a personal aspect of immediate response. To compensate for the lack of a "conversation" dimension in e-mail computer mediated communication, Internet Relay Chat (IRC) was created. It is also known as "Chat Rooms" or "Chat Boxes". IRC is a typed form of communication that is transmitted, received and responded to within a time frame or sychrounously. Synchronous means that the exchange of messages are in real time. Chat exists on the server and transmits one person's typing directly to the monitor of another person or group of people on the internet. People can join a particular group or channel on the internet and have a conversation on a particular topic. The educational use of a chat room is that people can use it to support group processes in the exchange of ideas at a more personable level in cyber space. Groups of teachers can meet together to collaborate on teaching methods while being at different locations. The advantages of IRC is that it enables people to receive immediate and corrective feedback that adds a dimension of a real conversation. However there are some disadvantages. First, getting all participants on-line at the same time is a challenge. Second, there are limited numbers of people who can be in a group (between 5-8 people) for the IRC to be effective and efficient. One unique server where educators can log in is Classroom Connect Virtual Auditorium. For more information about Chat Rooms click here.
Their are millions of files, thousands of online conferences and an abundance of information that is published and exchanged over the internet that educators and colleagues can use to access for information and support, but they are not much good without the tools for locating exacty what you are looking for. Software tools can make it easier to explore the libary of internet and collaborate with other people all over the world at your fingertips. For further information on the evaluation of the Internet for communication click here. For more internet tool reviews see Internet Tool Review site.
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